In July 2021, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine amended the Law of Ukraine “On Comprehensive General Secondary Education” (hereinafter – the Law) and, in Paragraph 5² of Section X, required the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the regional councils (taking into account proposals from city, village, and settlement councils), the Kyiv and Sevastopol City Councils to approve, by 1 September 2024, plans for the establishment of a network of educational institutions, which ensure the obtaining of comprehensive secondary education (hereinafter referred to as the “Plans”), taking into account the requirements of this Law on lyceums. Moreover, in Paragraph 5³ of Section X, the Verkhovna Rada obliged the founders of lyceums to ensure, by 1 September 2027, the implementation of the Plans approved by the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the regional councils, and the Kyiv and Sevastopol City Councils, namely:

• to establish lyceums and provide them with an adequate material and technical base, equipment, and access to the internet,
• to select teaching staff on a competitive basis,
• to hold a competition for the position of head of the educational institution,
• to take any other necessary measures as set out in the relevant plans and legislation.

In compliance with the provisions of the Law, Plans were developed and adopted (by resolution of the regional council) or approved (by order of the head of the regional military administration) in each region in 2024 and early 2025, taking into account proposals from city, village, and settlement councils. In the process of submitting proposals for the preparation of the Plans, guided by the laws “On Local Self-Government”, “On Education”, and “On Comprehensive General Secondary Education” (Articles 32 and 35), communities began preparing and adopting their own decisions and plans for the establishment of a network of educational institutions that will ensure the provision of comprehensive secondary education from 1 September 2027. Since February 2026, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has been continuously monitoring the relevant decisions adopted, in particular regarding:

• the progress and outcomes of the public consultation on decisions to change the type of educational institutions;
• a model for establishing an academic lyceum in the community (reprofiling, reorganisation, creation of a new legal entity);
• the planned or existing structure of the academic lyceum (current levels of education, branches, structural units).

The overview of the spatial organisation of the process of establishing a network of academic lyceums in communities, based on the results of the monitoring carried out as of 1 September 2026, is provided below.

 

The network of academic lyceums as of September 2026

General figures. Overall, as of 1 September 2026 – one year before teaching begins at the new academic lyceums – communities plan to establish 2,090 academic lyceums, 54 of which will be in temporarily occupied territories.

In addition to the 30 academic lyceums included in the Ministry of Education and Science’s pilot project at the start of the 2025/26 academic year, a further 120 were added in 2026.

According to current estimates, the projected average student enrolment in academic lyceums (Grades 10–12) for the 2029/30 academic year (excluding those who participated in the Ministry of Education and Science’s pilot project) will be around 354 students per institution nationwide, with an estimated 110–120 students per year group.

Analysis by region. An analysis of the community plans adopted by the local governments shows that around 400 communities (excluding the temporarily occupied territories) do not plan to establish academic lyceums; from 1 September 2027, only primary schools and gymnasiums will operate in their territories. The projected student enrolment in these communities (students in Grades 7–9) stands at around 52,000, which accounts for 7% of the total projected student enrolment in academic lyceums for the 2029/30 academic year. This means that this number of students will require 100% school bus transportation to an academic lyceum in a neighbouring community.

 

The total number of communities where, according to their decisions, the establishment of academic lyceums in their area is not envisaged
(excluding the temporarily occupied territories, as of 1 September 2026)

Region	Number of communities	Average projected number of students for academic lyceums* in communities, thousands	Number of secondary educational institutions in the community
Vinnytsia	5	0,5	26
Volyn	14	2.1	78
Dnipropetrovsk	30	3,8	129
Donetsk	12	0,9	34
Zhytomyr	19	1,9	74
Zakarpattia	7	1,3	46
Zaporizhzhia	18	4,0	77
Ivano-Frankivsk	22	3,8	103
Kyiv	7	0,8	29
Kirovohrad	8	1,2	35
Lviv	1	0,2	6
Mykolaiv	28	3,7	156
Odesa	21	3,4	95
Poltava	18	1,7	76
Rivne	30	5,2	148
Sumy	29	3,2	123
Ternopil	25	3,3	157
Kharkiv	9	0,7	29
Kherson	8	0,7	21
Khmelnytskyi	25	2,7	109
Cherkasy	21	1,8	73
Chernivtsi	13	2,1	59
Chernihiv	28	2,7	111
Total	398	51,7	1794

 

The largest number of academic lyceums is planned to be established in the city of Kyiv – 254 institutions. However, the highest projected average student enrolment in academic lyceums is not in Kyiv (272 students) but in Ivano-Frankivsk (579 students) and Rivne (529 students) regions. The lowest average enrolment in academic lyceums will be in the frontline regions of Kharkiv (221 students) and Sumy (344 students).

 

Total number of academic lyceums approved by LG decisions
(excluding the temporarily occupied territories, as of 1 September 2026)

 

Region	Number of academic lyceums	Number of students in Grades 7–9 (projected enrolment), thousands	Average projected enrolment in academic lyceums*, students
Vinnytsia	85	51.7	406
Volyn	82	40.9	333
Dnipropetrovsk	159	93.3	391
Donetsk	24	16.0	445
Zhytomyr	54	38.6	477
Zakarpattia	106	47.8	301
Zaporizhzhia	27	19.3	477
Ivano-Frankivsk	51	44.3	579
Kyiv	105	73.1	465
Kirovohrad	79	30.0	253
Lviv	155	87.0	374
Mykolaiv	51	27.1	354
Odesa	148	75.4	340
Poltava	73	40.0	365
Rivne	55	43.7	529
Sumy	44	22.7	344
Ternopil	46	27.7	402
Kharkiv	193	64.0	221
Kherson	16	10.1	420
Khmelnytskyi	63	37.7	399
Cherkasy	66	33.6	340
Chernivtsi	64	29.9	312
Chernihiv	36	23.8	442
The City of Kyiv	254	103.8	272
Total	2036	1,081.9	354

* the average projected enrolment figures for academic lyceums have been calculated taking into account the average percentage of students who continue their studies in Grade 10 at a general secondary education institution

 

The structure of future academic lyceums, in line with LG decisions, is as follows:

• 1,425 institutions (68%) – academic lyceums that will include a primary school and a gymnasium (Grades 1-12);
• 413 institutions (20%) – academic lyceums with a gymnasium (Grades 5-12);
• 252 institutions (12%) – classical academic lyceums (Grades 10-12).

It should also be noted that the establishment of academic lyceums will result in a significant proportion of general secondary schools transitioning from offering Grades 10–11 to providing education up to and including Grade 9. This process will begin in the next academic year and be fully completed by the 2028/2029 academic year. Taking into account local government decisions to approve community plans to establish networks of general secondary education institutions, the total number of such institutions may amount to around 5,600 (42%).

 

Interim conclusions and recommendations

According to LG decisions, only 12% of the planned academic lyceums will enrol students exclusively in Grades 10–12; the remaining institutions will have a wider range of year groups.

Communities are planning to make use of the provision in the Law that allows 68% of academic lyceums (1,425 institutions) to: “By decision of the founder, a lyceum may also provide basic secondary education and, as an exception, primary education” (Paragraph 7 of Part 1 of Article 35). These figures indicate that, in the future, the network of academic lyceums will undergo both structural transformation and a change in the number of institutions, as such a large number of exceptions is simply not feasible.

Taking into account the number of students in Grades 1-6 this academic year, the birth rates in Ukraine since 2020 in general, and the demographic forecast in particular, it can be concluded that most communities will see a decline in student numbers, which will also, in the future – specifically after 2030 – be reflected in the number of students in senior secondary schools and academic lyceums. When planning their network of academic lyceums, communities first need to take into account their demographic potential, as well as their own capacity to establish a range of study programmes that will enable them to guarantee and ensure every student's right to their own educational pathway, as provided for by law.

DECIDE Project supports local governments with comprehensive advisory and consultative assistance on the planning and implementation of the reform of specialised senior secondary education in relation to the establishment of a network of academic lyceums. This article reviews the interim results of monitoring the transformation of the network of educational institutions in communities, including the establishment of academic lyceums. It provides an overview of the spatial organisation of the process of establishing a network of academic lyceums in communities.